Sometimes large-scale events and unforeseen circumstances can slow down recovery efforts, and sometimes all it takes is something small – like a toad. In case you don’t regularly read the Austin American Statesman, you may have missed an interesting story that shows the complex nature of disaster recovery. Those involved with disaster recovery need to think about a wide variety of factors that come into play, including the cleanup efforts’ effects on animals.

To set the stage, a historic wildfire season hit Texas in 2011, and we continue to work in support of state and local officials in providing assistance to affected individuals and local governments. This assistance to local governments includes supporting removing debris in some of the damaged areas.

A small, rare object that could soon be spotted hopping nearby, however, has the potential to delay FEMA-funded recovery projects in certain areas. This object is the endangered Houston toad, which surfaces during mating season. Emergency managers have a responsibility to carry out our jobs in a manner that avoids or minimizes adverse impacts to the environment, especially potential impacts on endangered species.

Because of this, our recovery experts met recently with officials from the state and Bastrop County, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Texas Parks and Wildlife, a local electric cooperative, and environmental experts to make sure recovery will not violate federal environmental policies and laws and will minimize adverse effects on the toads.

The meeting was productive in that the key stakeholders on this issue came to a consensus on how best to proceed. For now, debris removal is going strong as we increase our capability to monitor the toads. Meanwhile, we continue to work with stakeholders to proceed with recovery efforts while protecting the natural environment.

In the end, the Houston toad serves as a symbol that successful disaster recovery requires a team of individuals and organizations working together to solve problems both big and small -- sometimes as small as a toad.

Click here for more information on FEMA’s Environmental Planning and Historic Preservation Program.

Throughout Fire Prevention Week, I’ve reflected on the changes in how we prepare for and prevent fires, as well as the importance of properly using a fire extinguisher. To wrap up the week, I wanted to remind you that protecting your family and home from fire all begins with prevention.

Have working smoke alarms in your home

Properly installed and maintained smoke alarms are one of the best and least expensive means of providing an early warning of a potentially deadly fire and could reduce the risk of dying from a fire in your home by almost half.

 A smoke alarm stands guard around the clock and when it first senses smoke, sounds a shrill alarm. This often allows a family the precious but limited time it takes to escape.

Here are some key reminders for placing and maintaining the smoke alarms in your residence:

• Replace smoke alarms no later than ten years after their installation.

• The U.S. Fire Administration also recommends that you have smoke alarms inside and outside of bedrooms, on every level in your home, and interconnected so that when one smoke alarm sounds they will all sound.

• Test your smoke alarms every month.

Review and practice your fire escape plan regularly

• Discuss the plan with everyone in your household, especially family members who cannot escape unassisted.

• Plan two ways out of every room.

• Designate an outside meeting place, away from your home, but where the firefighters can see that you are out and safe.

• Practice your escape plan every month at least twice a year with everyone in your home. Practice at night and during the daytime.

• Leave your home.

• Call the fire department from outside using a cell phone or a neighbor’s phone.

• Get out and stay out! Never return to a burning building!

I encourage you to share this information with family, loved ones and friends and emphasize the importance of fire prevention – it could save your life, or that of someone you love.

For more information on smoke alarms and fire escape planning, and help in identifying potential fire hazards in your home, visit the Ready.gov/fires. To learn more about resources for sharing fire safety, and for free publications, visit the U.S. Fire Administration’s website.

During this 89th Fire Prevention Week (October 9-15, 2011), take a moment and reflect with me on how far we’ve come and where we need to go to protect our families and communities from fire. Before I discuss some of the changes in the firefighting and fire prevention landscape, the most important thing to remember is you can do your part to make your family safer from the risk of fire.

What You Can Do

The following tips will help you keep your family and homes safer, everyday:

• Establish and practice an emergency escape plan that includes at least two exits out of your home and designate a meeting space outside of your home where first responders can easily see you.

• Properly install and maintain smoke alarms on every level of the home, including the basement, outside sleeping areas, and inside each bedroom.

• Consider installing a residential sprinkler in your home. Residential fire sprinklers protect lives and property by keeping fires small.

• Know that the leading cause of fire and injury in the home is unattended cooking so stand by your pan when you are cooking, frying, grilling, broiling, or barbequing food.

• If you live in an area prone to wildfire, keep the area around your home clear of combustible vegetation.

Learning Lessons From the Past

The threat from fire is ever present. Fire destroys lives and property, that’s why fire prevention is so important. One-hundred and forty years ago, the great Chicago fire consumed much of the city and claimed many lives. The fire fighting community soon recognized such disasters were preventable and society took action. In the process we learned to fight fires with more efficiency. From those destructive fires we learned to better control fires in blocks of buildings, then single buildings, then to just floors in a building, to now, when most fires are contained to the room of origin.

Because of this, society has saved vital resources, improved the urban landscape, and raised the level of safety through legislation, zoning ordinances, upgrading municipal fire defenses, expanding public water supplies, installing fire alarms and automatic fire sprinkler systems in commercial buildings, adopting building and fire codes, developing better building methods and materials, and teaching people how to prevent fire. Doing this was not easy, but it was a decision made by society that fire had to be controlled, and it took the efforts of everyone to make it happen.

New Challenges

While urban infernos are now very rare events, we face new fire-safety challenges. Today, our homes remain a place of great potential risk from fire. Not long ago our furnishings and belongings were mostly cotton, wool, and wood. Now plastic and synthetic materials make up many of the items we use every day and when burned produce greater quantities of deadly heat and toxic smoke compared to natural materials.

Fires in the modern home burn hotter and faster and have more potential fuel to keep the fire going than 50 years ago, presenting a greater challenge to occupant survival and for firefighters to control.

Fire Prevention Week provides the opportunity to reflect on fire-safety readiness and how we can better protect our families and communities from fire. To learn more about preparing your home and family for a fire, visit Ready.gov/fires. If you’re an emergency manager, educator, parent, community leader or concerned citizen, visit the U.S. Fire Administration website for more resources for sharing fire safety information.